New York Laws
Title 5 - Protection of Water
15-0505 - Protection of Navigable Waters; Excavation or Fill; Permit.

1. No person, local public corporation or interstate authority shall
excavate or place fill below the mean high water level in any of the
navigable waters of the state, or in marshes, estuaries, tidal marshes
and wetlands that are adjacent to and contiguous at any point to any of
the navigable waters of the state and that are inundated at mean high
water level or tide, without a permit issued pursuant to subdivision 3
of this section. For the purposes of this section, fill shall include,
but shall not be limited to, earth, clay, silt, sand, gravel, stone,
rock, shale, concrete (whole or fragmentary), ashes, cinders, slag,
metal, or any other similar material whether or not enclosed or
contained by (1) crib work of wood, timber, logs, concrete or metal, (2)
bulkheads and cofferdams of timber sheeting, bracing and piling or steel
sheet piling or steel H piling, separated or in combination. Nothing
contained in this section is intended to be, nor shall be construed to
limit, impair or affect the memorandum of understanding which any state
department enters into with the Department of Environmental Conservation
or the general powers and duties of the Department of Transportation
relating to canals or the general powers and duties of the Department of
Environmental Conservation relating to flood control.

2. A permit application or request for a permit renewal or
modification shall be made on forms provided by the department and shall
consist of a description of the character and extent of the proposed
project or work, drawings, plans and specifications providing the
location and details of the proposed project or work, and such
additional information as the department may require.

3. Before granting a permit, a permit renewal or a permit modification
pursuant to this section the department shall ascertain the probable
effect on the use of such waters for navigation, the health, safety and
welfare of the people of the state and the effect on the natural
resources of the state, including soil, forests, water, fish and aquatic
resources therein, likely to result from the proposed project or work.

4. The department shall review the permit application or request for
renewal or modification of an existing permit and may grant or deny the
permit or request, or may grant the permit with such conditions as will
safeguard life or property against danger or destruction and as will
make the navigable waters safe for use by the public.

5. The rules and regulations adopted by the department to implement
this section and the provisions of article 70 of this chapter and rules
and regulations adopted thereunder shall govern the processing of permit
applications, renewals, modifications, suspensions and revocations under
this section.

6. The provisions of subdivisions 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this section shall
not apply to emergency work in waters described in subdivision 1 of this
section which is immediately necessary to protect the health, safety and
well-being of any person or persons or to prevent damage to personal or
real property, provided that the department is given written
notification by registered mail or telegraph within forty-eight hours
after the commencement of the work and within forty-eight hours
following the completion of the work. Whenever such emergency work is
performed as provided in this subdivision, it shall be performed in a
manner that will cause the least change, modification, disturbance or
damage to the environment.

7. The requirements of this section shall be in addition to those
specified in section 15-0501 of this title, provided however, that the
department may, by rule and regulation, provide that only one
application for a permit or request for renewal or modification of an
existing permit need be filed when the proposed project or work requires

a department permit under this section and section 15-0501 of this
title.